Re: retroflex consonants

At 7:00 AM -0600 1/27/03, Danny Wier wrote:
>Which languages around the world and in conlangs have retroflexes, how did
>they develop, and how do they contrast phonemically with dentals, alveolars,
>palatoalveolars, etc.?
It is my impression that when a language has but a single alveolar sibilant, it
tends to be pronounced somewhat retroflex. I only know of two examples: Finnish
and Shoshoni (another Deep Similarity between the two languages! I ought to
start making a list), but we all know that two examples constitute a robust
generalization.

Dirk
--
Dirk Elzinga                                               Dirk_Elzinga@byu.edu

"It is important not to let one's aesthetics interfere with the appreciation of
fact." - Stephen Anderson

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